The overall goal of the proposed research is to discover allelic targets for epigenetic regulation by milk thistle-derived compounds. Extracts of milk thistle (Silybum marianum L. Gaertn) have been investigated as experimental preventive and therapeutic agents against a variety of epithelial cancers including prostate cancer. While the precise direct or indirect molecular targets of the active compounds in this extracts have not been identified, we show preliminary evidence that the partially purified milk thistle extract silibinin affects the regulation and activity of the protein EZH2 in a variety of prostate tumor cell liners. EZH2 is a protein methyltransferase that can alter chromatin structure and lead to recruitment of DNA methyltransferases to gene promoters. It is also been characterized as a biomarker of the more aggressive prostate and breast cancers in humans. Given the effects of silibinin on a known modifier of epigenetic events, we hypothesize that the tumor preventative properties of milk thistle may proceed through epigenetic mechanisms. The proposed work takes an exploratory genome-wide approach to uncovering epigenetic targets of silibinin by developing a two part screening system. In the first screen, alleles that show high expression variation in the absence of genetic heterogeneity are determined by examining protein expression in normal human prostate tissue from unrelated individuals undergoing prostatectomies for non-prostate cancer related reasons. In the second screen, alleles that show differential response to repeated dosing of silibinin are identified using a prostate tumor cells line. The hypothesis being tested is that alleles the show high expression level heterogeneity in a normal tissue, that are also affected by repeated exposure to silibinin are metastable epialleles;a.k.a, alleles most susceptible to epigenetic regulation in normal tissue. By identifying these alleles and understanding their epigenetic heterogeneity in a normal tissue, we advance our understanding of how dietary factors such as silibinin exert their effects on prostate tissue over the long term. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The overall goal of the proposed research is to discover metastable epialleles that are influenced by milk thistle extracts. Extracts of milk thistle (Silybum marianum L. Gaertn) have been investigated as experimental preventive and therapeutic agents against a variety of epithelial cancers including prostate cancer. By identifying these alleles and understanding their epigenetic heterogeneity in a normal tissue, we advance our understanding of how dietary supplements such as silibinin exert their effects on prostate tissue over the long term.